August Wilhelm Wern reminiscences

You might also be interested in

• Image not available

  James Franklin Burns reminiscences

  Manuscripts

  Burns details his move from Michigan to California in 1853. He also discusses his time as L.A. Chief of Police and County Sheriff including crimes that were committed while he held these positions and criminals he helped prosecute. Burns also talks about his actions during the 1871 Chinese Massacre in Chinatown and politics in California and Los Angeles.

  mssHM 66765

• Image not available

  Mary Ann Hafen reminiscences

  Manuscripts

  This small group consists of three letters Mary wrote to her children and relatives as well as two versions of reminiscences of her family's voyage from Switzerland to New York City and then on to Utah in a handcart company. In these accounts she describes the harsh conditions of their journey to Utah and the struggles of frontier and pioneer life. With the help of her son, Le Roy Reuben Hafen (1893-), his wife Ann W. (Ann Woodbury) Hafen (1893-1970), and granddaughter, Juanita Brooks (1898-), Mary was able to publish her life story, "Recollections of a handcart pioneer of 1860: with some account of frontier life in Utah and Nevada" in 1938.

  mssHM 66379-66383

• Image not available

  Thomas Day reminiscences

  Manuscripts

  This is a typescript collected by Juanita Broooks from a manuscript loaned by Fannie Stott. It describes Thomas Day's early childhood in England working at various factories to suppport his family; his conversion to Mormonism; his work as a missionary in England; the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean; his life in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in Utah at Kanarraville, Circleville, Saint George, Salt Lake City, and Spanish Fork; and his contact with Native Americans while a missionary and in traveling.

  mssHM 66576

• Image not available

  Experiences and reminiscences of Raymond William Milnor

  Manuscripts

  In this manuscript, Milnor reminiscences about his life. He talks about his childhood in Iowa where he played around railroad tracks and attended a school with a graduating class of 14 students. He talks about his work with the railroads and trips he took. He talks briefly about his time in the war and time spent at Yellowstone Park on his journey to California. Milnor ends his reminiscences with several pages covering his life in southern California - his varying jobs, the many times his family moved around, his daughters' education, family vacations, his retirement, etc.

  mssHM 73895

• Image not available

  Wilhelm, Christina

  Manuscripts

  The collection consists of maps, field books, legal documents, business papers, and diaries related to the work of surveyors George Hansen, Alfred Solano, Sidney B. Reeve, and others. The maps and surveys in the collection are of the city of Los Angeles, Southern California ranchos, and subdivisions of the city of Los Angeles and neighboring towns. The collection contains over maps and sketch maps. Other subjects represented in the collection include: civil engineering, land subdivision, mines and mineral resources, and daily life in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

  mssSolano

• Image not available

  Memoirs and reminiscences

  Manuscripts

  Crosby writes of events in his life, beginning with his birth in New York on July 18, 1818. After spending his early days on his parents' farm, he studied law and became an attorney in 1841. In 1843, he became "Attorney of the Supreme Court of the State of New York." In this capacity, Crosby began to become aware of the tension between California and Mexico, and upon learning of the opportunities for lawyers in California, he decided to relocate there in 1849. The discovery of gold in California urged his decision. He traveled by steamship, and writes of his journey, including a stop in Cuba. He landed in Panama and traveled up the Chagres River, then across to the Pacific Ocean, where he took another steamship to San Francisco, arriving in late February, 1849. Many of the passengers had traveled to search for gold; as Crosby writes, "There was a general disposition to get away from the city, to the gold mines." Crosby prospects himself at several locations. He describes the events leading up to the California constitutional convention in Monterey, as well as details of the convention itself. He describes the convention as "a very harmonious body and I think the members only had the interest of the people at heart." Crosby also relates his experiences as part of the "Land Commission," the function of which was "to Settle Private Land Claims in California," as well as his experiences serving as an ambassador to Guatemala. Crosby claims to have been given "secret instructions" by the President to see if Guatemala might be suitable for the relocation of the recently freed American slaves, but is skeptical that this plan would work. He describes the country and its inhabitants at length, for he feels "there is a great misapprehension among our people with regard to those tropical countries." Crosby relates of the social order of San Francisco, especially events connected to "a very noted cortezan" known as "the Countess." This manuscript appears to be a copy, for it is written in several different hands, and appears to be incomplete, as it ends abruptly.

  mssHM 284